Buy or sell, at Manchester's largest selection of used photographic equipment

Welcome to Real Camera Company

If you're looking to buy, sell or trade used photographic equipment of any type, with people who know what they're talking about, at good prices, then you've found the right place. Manchester's best camera shop, maybe even Britain's best camera shop? And if you think we might not do digital, then breathe easy, we do.

People frequently say, 'There aren't many shops like this any more', and that's right, there aren't. I'd guess 80% of the used photo market happens online, mostly on eBay. But eBay's not so hot at offering advice or personal suggestions, or economic repairs, or small items that don't cost a fortune because they've got postage charges on top, and it can give you unpleasant surprises when you see the items in the flesh.

And what about warranties, or unexpected V.A.T. or import duties on packages from abroad – you get the picture? I'm not saying we're perfect but we do try hard to be honest, fair and helpful, I should add several endorsements here but what would you believe from people you've never met? The great thing is word of mouth 'advertising' and we get recommended so many times by our customers that our customer base grows and grows.

Starting a college course? Need a manual SLR, no problem. Wanting to take things further and would like your own darkroom, that's no problem either, enlargers, projectors, dev tanks, film washers, print trays, darkroom clocks, timers, graduates, focus finders, enlarging lenses and safelights, we can help! Want a safelight for colour processing? We know what's needed. Something for Multigrade, lith or ortho work? Something for the weekend?

What's a rangefinder? Give me 5 minutes of your time and you'll know. We have 3 experts in the use of Leica's here, with a total of around a 100 years [count them!] experience of use on them, surely the best staffed seller of Leica's that isn't a Leica dealer. SLRs from Alpas to Zenit [I made a pact with myself when I started photo trading back in 2000 that I would not buy or sell Zenit's but some special people insist I keep some in stock for them].

Our typical range of product brands includes:

Alpa

AGI

Amotal

Brownie

Bolex

Bell & Howell

Beard

Biogon

Biotar

Bronica

Carl Zeiss

Canon

Cinerex

Cooke

Cook & Perkins

Centon

Cosina

Diana

Durst

Digilux

Edixa

Exakta

Ensign

Envoy

Fed

Franka

Fuji

Fujinon

Fujica

Graflex

Hitachi

Holga

Ikon

Ilford

Ifbaflex

JVC

Kodak

Kenko

Kershaw

Leica

Leicaflex

Leicina

Miranda

Mamiya 645

Mamiyaflex

Metz

Minolta

Nikon

Nalcom

Olympus

Praktica

Parat

Purma

Paterson

Pentax

Panasonic

Polaroid

Quinon

Retina Reflex

Retinette

Rodenstock

Rollei 35

Reid

Rolleiflex

Rolleicord

R R Beard

Robot Royal

Ricoh

Samsung

Schneider

Sony

Super Angulon

Sonnar

Summar

Summaron

Summicron

Summilux

Sigma

Tamron

Tenba

Topcon

Toyo

Travenar

Taylor Hobson

Unirex

Voigtlander

Virtus

Vito

Vitessa

Witness

Wrayflex

Watameter

Wray

Xenon

Xenotar

X-tralux

X-Ray lenses

Yashica

Zorki

Zeiss / Ikon

Zenit

Sadly, we have some problems... and some solutions!

Our stock is so big we can't write down everything, it would take months. So give us a call and ask us if we have what you want, drop me an e-mail, or come and visit us as we're only one block out of Piccadilly Gardens, in the centre of Manchester.

eBay Store

International delivery is available for those overseas, who can't visit us in our Manchester store. Visit our eBay store.

Repairs

We accept cameras, lenses and all photographic equipment for repair.

Frequently, modern compact digital cameras are uneconomic to repair but we can advise on a 'case by case' basis.

We can also supply 'insurance letters' if needed.

Some servicing work, e.g. replacement of light seals and sensor cleaning we do in-house.

Most serious stuff can be sent off to a variety of carefully chosen specialist engineers depending on the need.

Some repairs are local, some might be sent abroad, it all depends on what's required.

We do try to ensure we offer best advice and certainly less expensive prices than authorised service centres.

Gallery

But we're not just a camera shop, oh no! We like to encourage photography, not just camera ownership. So, to that end, I set up a little gallery space, 12 spot-lit frames, 50 x 50cm, which are changed monthly to show work by customers and others. If you feel you'd like you have your work shown then get in touch and we'll talk about it, naturally I'd like to see your work!

We Are...

You can ask for me, Jeremy, or any of my team below.

Jem

I'm Jem [short for Jeremy] and I own the place, I've had a few pictures published and had a few Arts Council sponsored exhibitions, I also edited Leica society magazines for over 13 years.

Chris

Chris joined us from graduating in photography at Staffordshire University, uses 5x4, digital rangefinder (Leica M8, M9) and generally has an eye for the esoteric.

Joe

Joe looks after our world wide online sales and despatch department (Ebay to you and me), is a keen action photographer and knows about Nikon and modern cameras better than most. Joe's also our top sensor cleaner for your DSLRs.

Simon

Hello, my name's Simon. I have 25 years experience in the photographic business and specialise in medium format equipment and studio gear.

Jake

Paul

Paul is a keen street photographer and has had work published in various publications and online. His work was shown at the 'Urban Glimpses' exhibition at 'The Venerie' Cultural Centre in Brussels, Belgium.